And there were no water spills or soakings.

But now I inted to move in for 2 years and sell it (to avoid
capital gains taxes). My income is near zero as I'm
somewhat disabled with no income at all. (don't ask)

I'd like to think that

1. I can live in the house without sealing the floors
for now. But what IS a short term solution? The
individual strips of wood are close and tight. I could
probably gets some dust and dirt to come out
of any cracks however. What's the best method
if normal sweeping isn't the way?

Is it ok to wet mop the floor if it's not a soaking wetness?
I imagine that if I mopped it and kept getting dirty water
it would mean dirt is in the cracks.

2. What were the ways those floors were installed and
sealed in 1912? Lacquer? Oiled?

Thanks. This thread is pretty 'iffy' but some people don't
have all of the resources they want. And I know from
experience there's a right way and the long way. But
truthfully there's rarely a wrong way unless you are
just totally ignorant.

Thank you.

By the way. I can't believe the quality of
these forums. They're very excellant.

I do my best to look for 0 - reply threads and try to
give an answer. If you're bored for a few minutes
consider doing the same. It's a pretty neat feeling
just to toss in a few words if you know what you're
talking about.

Varnish.

For cracks, the only thing that seems to get the dirt out for me is a shopvac. That only lasts a short while and then they are dirty again. For 2 years, you will probably just need to learn to live with a little dirt in the cracks. Generally, you'll just want to keep it swept regularly and occasionally mop with a damp mop.

2)Probably varnished. Depending on the area and use, many floors got painted along the way. Since the place is 100 years old, it could have had any number of different finishes along the way.